In the Mouth of Madness is yet another HP Lovecraft adaptation set to film. With legendary director John Carpenter directing you know this one is going to be quality. As expected the quality of the movie is amazing. I think its immaculately shot and produced, but maybe I am biased. I really do love John Carpenters work, and this is no exception. Sam Neill as the main character does a stellar job. I haven’t read any HP Lovecraft in many years, but from what I do remember of this story it tends to follow the original story quite well.
THE PLOT
The story itself opens with the main character John Trent (Sam Neill) committed to a lunatic asylum. The rest of the movie details John Trent’s descent from hotshot insurance fraud investigator to mental asylum resident. Mr. Trent takes on a case to find the whereabouts of acclaimed horror writer Sutter Cain. And of course ensure the release of his next major chartbuster “In the Mouth of Madness”. Cain is big business in the world of horror and his disappearance is also the subject of the major insurance claim. In the process of undertaking the investigation Trent reads Cain’s mind bending novels an sets off to find a town, Hobb’s End which is referred to in Cain’s books in the hopes of finding him.
Unfortunately for Trent he finds himself getting a little too involved in Cain’s writing and it begins to affect him mentally. The lines between fiction and reality start to blur. I won’t go any further into the plot than that but rest assured it’s a plot full of great twists. This movie keeps the magical world that HP Lovecraft created alive and vibrant in movie form.
THE VERDICT ON IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS
The is quite a few cool horror effects in In the Mouth of Madness, but the movie itself is more of a cerebral experience than flat out gore. This means you do have to pay reasonable attention to what’s going on (as opposed to other Lovecraft adaptations like Re-animator) but its a very rewarding experience which all I can do is recommend you check it out for yourselves!
Be sure to check out other John Carpenter Movies:
The Fog | Ghosts of Mars |Halloween | Halloween 3
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